72 Responses

Actually after noticing my own byline I just realised that I didn't yell all that much.

I come home from rugby matches hoarse, but no one really seemed to be yelling at the cricket (except the folks trying to start the Mexican wave). Is that normal or did the low score have something to do with it?

But the large gaps between fielders did throw me. The few times I've watched cricket on TV it seems as though the ground is teeming with them.

That's because the Windies' poor performance encouraged Vettori to be aggressive with the field placements, so all but a couple were inside the circle.

I also quickly caught on that the fans love to hate Kyle Mills.

I'm not sure why. Is it a provincial thing? He's been pretty wayward as a bowler at times in the past, but I wouldn't have thought that enough to engender opprobrium. The only thing the fans might have hated him for at this match was that he bowled so bloody well, meaning that the Windies never got settled and we ended up with a short match.

Yeah I didn't go on Weds because I figured I'd save myself for the test. I'd much rather go when you know you've got a full day of boozing ahead of you than face the possibility of seeing a 10 over ODI. [Note to non-Wellingtonians - Wellington in late Jan/Early Feb sees zero clouds and scorching temperatures. No breeze either.]

Sledging is awesome, but power plays seem lame to me. How about a power play where the batsman has to bat one-handed, or the bowler can only skip?!

no one really seemed to be yelling at the cricket (except the folks trying to start the Mexican wave). Is that normal or did the low score have something to do with it?

The low score and never quite a contest element will have sucked out a lot of the energy to be sure. But there's less yelling at cricket than at, say, rugby. I did spend one game behind a group who spent an innings trying to make Alan Donald cry while he was fielding in front of us.

That's when I saw Dan Vettori, the man's got an actual fucking swagger, an arrogance that belies his boyish face and glasses.

I've been shocked - shocked! - since he became captain by what a aggro little shit* he can be sometimes. He always seems so calm and controlled when he's bowling.

They serve G&Ts and cucumber sandwiches at the Basin, right?

You have a thermos, right Tom? Anyway, you wanna get in before they build that motorway fly-over right next to the terraces.

No, actually, but I can investigate. I presume that, unlike the Stadium, one can bring thermoses into the Basin?

Anyway, you wanna get in before they build that motorway fly-over right next to the terraces.

Well, some of us are doing our best to stop that, or at least the worst of it. The options that NZTA are currently assessing are a bit different from those presented to the public, since they've evolved through a workshop process. The ones that involve only ground-level intersections are probably going to get short shrift from the traffic engineers, but it's worth noting that none of the flyover options currently on the table are as close to the Basin as the earlier renders show. If we have to have a flyover (and not everyone is convinced), then at least some of us are trying to push it further from the Basin and give it some relationship to the urban grid, rather than swerving around like a drunken snake.

One of the pleasures of the game in Christchurch was being able to watch Ryder. He is such an incongruous looking figure for a sportsman. He is languid but remarkably fast and accurate in the field. He seems to be always in the covers, slips or short forward positions. At one point he was at deepish cover and the ball was hit quite sharply directly at him. Rather than pause on his trot in with the bowler he just kept on going, running upright, reached down with one hand as he met the ball and threw with the next stride.

He was having throw downs right in front of us at the beginning of the game when all the players were practising. The ball off his bat had a crisp thwack to it, a sharper noise than the other batters practising. His defensive shots are truly examples of ‘soft hands’ as he seems to be able to deaden the defensive stroke so there’s no chance of the ball carrying to a fielder. Even the ball he went out on after top scoring was a clean hit pull to mid-wicket off the front foot. It just never quite cleared the boundary and was caught.

He is genuinely charismatic as a player: like Chris Cairns or Chris Harris. You are always aware of him on the field even when he’s not actively involved in the play. Long may he grace our summers.

As for the whole ridiculous security carry on, (no thermoses in Christchurch), surely the acres of empty seats is sending some sort of message to the organisers. There aren't many places where as a paying customer you are treated like a smuggler when you go in and potential pitch invader while you are there, wherever you are seated.

Ryder seems to have that marvellous ability to be seeing and reacting at a sort of different rate than most. It's like he's seeing the world go by slightly slower than the rest of us and has more time ro react. I used to get that sense when watching Martin Crowe bat and it was really on show when I saw the greatest sportsperson I have seen in the flesh- Wayne Gretsky - get his 1000th assist at a game in Edmonton way back when.

hadyn if you think the Stadium looks small you should check out Pukekura Park in New Plymouth sometime. It felt like a basketball hall on one of the two occasions I was there, with Chris Pringle standing fielding down in front of us and a rowdy and drunken terrace baiting him with chants about his alleged criminal activities.

in my view one day cricket is about the only sport that's actually any good at the Stadium - the field is the right shape and size for it. it still grates enormously with me that when they replaced athletic park they put up this awful multipurpose ground which makes the interests of rugby and football uttely subservient to the one day's worth of cricket they play a year at it. empty spaces don't look so empty at the basin reserve, and given that daytime one dayers during the holiday season seem to be back in vogue these days (queenstown for example) i'm not quite sure why they couldn't have just kept such games at the basin along with the tests - and then put up a nice rectangular stadium on the waterfront. iirc they used to get round 10-12K at the basin for one dayers even on working wednesdays (how many were at the Stadium the other day?) and they were great days.

in my view one day cricket is about the only sport that's actually any good at the Stadium

Unfortunately the new layout here in Christchurch looks the opposite. Where the old number 1 stand was (the only place where us older family types could get a view behind the bowlers arm- having done a long enough apprenticeship, drinking liberally and getting sunstroke in the open stand at the other end) - the new stand under construction seems to come to a halt instead of curving back to connect with the Hadlee Stand. So they seem to be creating a rectangle, rugby centric ground rather than an oval.

Ryder seems to have that marvellous ability to be seeing and reacting at a sort of different rate than most.

Ryder's great to watch isn't he. I think he has more in common with Crowe than just his reaction time. He has a great range of shots and plays them instinctively.

Is he really a dividing figure? Maybe I haven't spoken to enough people about him but my impression is that to fans he is either a cult figure or simply liked, whereas amongst commentators he is either the great hope or too fat.

Actually I have just now read that he has been dropped for tomorrow match because of drinking indiscretions - link. As a fan, I'm rather divided on him. On the one hand I'm really excited about his potential, but resigned to the fact that his drinking problems may mean he never realises them.